Sunday, March 27, 2011

Samba Is Hungry

All my dogs are lean. Dr B and I think it's healthier for them to stay lean. It puts less strain on their joints and keeps them in generally good health. Samba, though, feels that she's not being fed enough. Because she's on pretty high doses of Prednisone for her MMM, she is constantly hungry.

Last month we started her on a special diet high in Omega 3 oils and low in Omega 6 oils. Since then she's been truly convinced that she's being starved.

She has started eating bird seed obligingly thrown on the floor by our two messy birds and I've caught her munching on my houseplants. When outside she tries to supplement her diet with anything she can find, including sticks.

She's finally gotten her message across. Because her special diet allows fewer treats, she's been losing weight. Today I decided to make some changes. She's getting an extra meal, we'll call it lunch, that the other dogs don't get. She's also getting some special goodies on her dinner.

Besides getting a large helping of green beans on her kibble, she enjoying some added Omega 3 in the form of sardines, which we refer to as "stinky fish". The only problem is it leads to " stinky breath".

Her treats consist of baby carrots, apple slices and sweet potato chunks. Yesterday I went to the library and found a doggy treat cookbook with some low cal treats made from sweet potato and pumpkin as well as apple and banana, so her diet should start improving.

We also solved our yogurt problem that I ranted about a few weeks ago. We tried Dannon low fat vanilla yogurt and everyone decided it was yummy, even Tsar. So now we purchase large containers of the stuff and because it's low fat, Samba can enjoy it too.

So, by adding an extra meal and finding some low cal toppings, I'm hoping that Samba will stop getting that empty feeling and not feel she's being punished.

16 comments:

Green beans have worked for several boy dogs I know, including Mugsy. Sis? Not so much. The only thing that has HELPED with her starving feeling is adding a third, SMALL meal at late night, but you already do a pre-bed snack, so I REALLY hope this works for Samba - and you.

My Tibby likes broccoli, corn, lettuce, lima beans, pumpkin pretty much any veggie! I put frozen veg. mix in a kong and add some yogurt. Then I freeze the whole thing. It's low calorie and it takes her a while to eat it.You could also try frozen slices of whole pumpkin or squash. They take a while to eat.

Goodness gracious...I thought our pets were complicated in their feeding regime. Too bad for Samba. it stinks to have feeding difficulties~thanks for your kind words and support today on my blog...I so appreciate the support.

We've been feeding the full figured Chub brothers steamed green beans for a long time--It does help to fill them up as does the plain rice cakes...But I know how it is to have a hungry pup around--Almost like it is when I'm hungry!

Yea for yummy treats, Samba! I was losing weight too when I was on the k/d diet until mom started cooking for me and the most helpful food was glutinous rice. It was low in phosphorus, which is VERY important for me, but high in calories. Leave it to our moms to give us the best care, right?